Herbert Wallerstein (November 28, 1925 – September 27, 1985) was an American director and producer. He was known for involvement in shows such as '' The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin'', '' Father Knows Best'', ''

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series, created by Sidney Sheldon that starred Barbara Eden as a sultry, 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman, as an astronaut with whom she falls in love and eventually marrie ...

'', and ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. It was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is a private inves ...

''. He was also the older brother of Rowe Wallerstein.

Career

Wallerstein's career began as assistant director for TV's '' The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin'' in 1954. After two years, Wallerstein left ''Tin Tin'' and had several assistant directing stints in several movies before being hired to the directing staff of the television series ''

Circus Boy ''Circus Boy'' was an American adventure film, adventure Children's television series, family western (genre), western that aired in prime time on NBC, and then on American Broadcasting Company, ABC, from 1956 to 1957. It was then rerun by NBC on ...

''. He also served as a director on the television series ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' in the 1960s. He also had producing credits for ''

'' and several television movies in the 1970s. In 1978, Wallerstein began working for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. He served as the senior vice president of feature film production. He oversaw the production of films such as ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

'', ''

9 to 5 Working(laboring) time is the period of time that a person spends at paid Wage labour, labor. Unpaid work, Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week. Many countries regula ...

'' and '' The Verdict''. He retired from Fox in the winter 1984.

Death

On the evening of September 27, 1985, Wallerstein went to the supermarket. When he returned, he and the family housekeeper, Mayra Melenez Lopez, an immigrant from

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

, had a struggle. According to Lopez, Wallerstein had assaulted her several times that night. Lopez claimed he had thrown ice cream in her face and pummeled her repeatedly, giving her a black eye. After that, Lopez arose from the kitchen floor and proceeded to hit Wallerstein in the head with a baseball bat. To cover up the slaying, Lopez and her boyfriend dragged Wallerstein's body to the boyfriend's car and drove two blocks. The car was then set ablaze and was discovered by firefighters on September 29. On November 26, 1985, Lopez was arrested and, on the 28th, arraigned on murder. According to Los Angeles Police Detective Joseph Diglio, Lopez was a suspect from the beginning of the investigation. Her arrest came after several personal objects of Wallerstein's, including his wallet, identification and credit cards, were found buried near the Wallerstein home. On December 11, 1985, a preliminary hearing for Lopez was held at the Van Nuys Municipal Court. Superior Court Judge James A. Albracht reduced Lopez's charge from murder to manslaughter ruling that "...the prosecution had presented insufficient evidence ... to show that Lopez had acted with premeditation and malice." Lopez's trial was held in July 1986. After two and a half days of deliberation, on July 16, a jury at the Van Nuys superior court found Lopez not guilty of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter and charges of arson in Wallerstein's death. Lopez then reportedly placed her head in the chest of her lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Mark Lessom and whispered "Thank you".

References

External links

*' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallerstein, Herb 1925 births 1985 deaths American television directors American television producers Deaths by beating in the United States Television producers from New York City People murdered in Los Angeles American murder victims Male murder victims 1985 murders in the United States